Dillon, Goode double winners

FAYETTEVILLE — The restrictions are off on Amanda Dillon, and the Springdale Har-Ber senior has turned it loose again.

Dillon, medically cleared at go at full speed after she had knee surgery in January, completed the unlikely double victory Saturday when she won the 800-meter run at the John McDonnell Invitational. This came after she won the 400 during Friday’s competition at John McDonnell Track.

“I’m back, and I’m happy to be back,” Dillon said. “I was told after three months I would feel no pain in my knee. Up until this point, I’ve had a lot of pain in my knee and swelling, and blocks have been really hard for me.

“My 3-month mark was Thursday, and I’ve been feeling great. Now my knee is totally healed. I know that for sure.”

Dillon’s time of 2 minutes, 13.25 seconds trimmed more than 5 seconds off her time last week at the Cyclone Relays, and she beat second-place finisher Tori Weeks of Cabot by more than 6 seconds. It was also more than a second better than the Class 7A state meet record time of 2:14.71 that Fayetteville’s Amanda Agana set last year.

She also made a big jump in the 400, where she continues to chase the state overall record of 55.54 set by Paige Farrell of Springdale in 2004. Dillon won Friday in 56.37 seconds, more than 3 seconds faster than she ran last month at the Tiger Relays, then she ran with younger sister Julianne, Jenna Birkes and Emily Potts to help Har-Ber win the 4x400 relay with a time of 4:01.59.

Shiloh Christian sprinter Adler Goode was also a double winner, but both of his events came Saturday and against runners in larger classifications. His 100 time was 10.89 seconds, a personal-best, then he coupled that with a personal-best of 22.46 to win the 200.

This came after he had run Thursday at the Panther Relays in Siloam Springs, then ran preliminary heats Friday to qualify.

“I woke up (Saturday) morning and was dead tired,” Goode said. “I almost didn’t come, but my coaches encouraged me to come so I’m glad I came.

“I had a bad start Friday and had a time I normally run in practice. I talked to my coaches about it, and I found out I had my form wrong on my starts. I fixed that, and it really helped me.”

Henry Apple can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWAHenry.

Upcoming Events